Ion generation device and electrical apparatus

Abstract

An ion generation device includes: a high voltage generation circuit; and an ion generation element. The high voltage generation circuit includes: a capacitor; a high voltage transformer; a switching element; and a pulse signal generation portion which generates a pulse signal for controlling the turning on and off of the switching element. The pulse signal generation portion adjusts a pulse width of an on-period such that the pulse width of the on-period of the pulse signal is substantially equal to a time obtained by multiplying the reciprocal of an output voltage frequency at the time of a forward operation of the high voltage transformer by one-fourth.

The invention claimed is: 
     
       1. An ion generation device comprising:
 a high voltage generation circuit; and 
 an ion generation element to which a high voltage output from the high voltage generation circuit or a voltage generated based on the high voltage output from the high voltage generation circuit is applied, 
 wherein the high voltage generation circuit includes:
 a capacitor which stores an input direct-current voltage or a voltage obtained by performing DC/DC conversion on the input direct-current voltage; 
 a high voltage transformer which steps up a voltage output from the capacitor connected to a primary side to output a high voltage to a secondary side; 
 a switching element which is connected to the primary side of the high voltage transformer and which intermittently passes a current on the primary side of the high voltage transformer by being turned on and off; and 
 a pulse signal generation portion which generates a pulse signal for controlling the turning on and off of the switching element, and 
 
 the pulse signal generation portion adjusts a pulse width of an on-period such that the pulse width of the on-period during which the switching element is kept on by the pulse signal is substantially equal to a time obtained by multiplying a reciprocal of an output voltage frequency at a time of a forward operation of the high voltage transformer by one-fourth. 
 
     
     
       2. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the pulse width of the on-period adjusted by the pulse signal generation portion can be changed. 
 
     
     
       3. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the switching element is directly driven by the pulse signal. 
 
     
     
       4. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the capacitor stores the input direct-current voltage. 
 
     
     
       5. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the capacitor is a ceramic capacitor or a film capacitor. 
 
     
     
       6. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the switching element is a MOS-FET. 
 
     
     
       7. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the switching element is a bipolar transistor. 
 
     
     
       8. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the switching element is an IGBT. 
 
     
     
       9. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the pulse signal generation portion is a microcontroller which controls the generation of the pulse signal with software. 
 
     
     
       10. The ion generation device of  claim 1 ,
 wherein the pulse signal generation portion is a dedicated circuit which controls the generation of the pulse signal with hardware. 
 
     
     
       11. An electrical apparatus comprising:
 the ion generation device of  claim 1 ; and 
 a feed-out portion for feeding ions generated by the ion generation device out of the ion generation device.